contubernium

Forms

contubernium n (genitive contuberniī or contubernī); second declension^[1] Some manuscripts of Suetonius and Fronto spell it contib-.^[2]

Etymology

It is formed from con- and taberna (“hut, booth”) with the suffix -ium, “sharing a hut or tent”.^[3][1][2] De Vaan derives ⟨taberna⟩ from ⟨*trab-erna⟩, a derivative of trabs (“beam”) with the first /r/ lost by dissimilation, so that it was first a “wooden shed”.^[4]

Earliest recorded meaning

De Vaan and Köbler date it from Cicero.^[4][5]

Semantic evolution

In the army it is the sharing of a tent, comradeship, and in particular the attachment of a young man to a general's staff;^[3] Pliny the Elder speaks of a friendship like the comradeship of camp.^[3] It was also the tent shared by a squad of soldiers, and a lodging.^[3][1] More generally it means living together, fellowship, as Phaedrus' chance companionship of a cat, and a band or crew.^[3] It is also cohabitation, and in law the only union recognised between slaves.^[3][1]

Church Latin glosses it “dwelling, intimacy, comradeship”.^[6] In Medieval Latin it was a band of armed retainers, and a prebend.^[7]

Timeline

• 81–43 BC – Cicero.^[4][5]
• c. 15 BC–c. 50 AD – Phaedrus of animals living together.^[3][5]
• 23/24–79 AD – Pliny the Elder of the comradeship of camp.^[3][5]
• Medieval Latin – a band of retainers; a prebend.^[7]

Meanings

Noun

1. (military) Sharing of a tent, comradeship; attendance of a young man on a general.^[3][8][1]
2. Living together, fellowship; a band, crew.^[3][1][6]
3. Cohabitation; the marriage of slaves.^[3][1]
4. A tent shared by a squad of soldiers; a lodging.^[3][1]
5. (Medieval Latin) A band of armed retainers; a prebend.^[7]

Word family

• uesticontubernium

Related words

• contubernālis
• taberna

References

1. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b Thesaurus linguae Latinae (1900–), Leipzig: Teubner; Berlin: De Gruyter; open-access ed., Munich: Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
4. ^ a b c de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill
5. ^ a b c d Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
6. ^ a b Stelten, Leo F. (1995), Dictionary of Ecclesiastical Latin, Peabody, Mass.: Hendrickson
7. ^ a b c Niermeyer, J. F. (1976), Mediae Latinitatis Lexicon Minus, Leiden: Brill
8. ^ Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press